Meet Danielle Matthew | Therapist, Bullying Expert & Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Danielle Matthew and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Danielle, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I always knew I wanted to help people. I had been bullied as a young child and felt its effects as I went through my early years in school. At an early age, I knew I wanted to make a difference with people in a meaningful way. About four years ago, I had the opportunity to leave the safety of my full-time job and start The Empowerment Space business. I developed a program to help victims of bullying, which led to my presenting on this topic to schools, conferences, parent groups, and psychology students.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I enjoy sharing my knowledge and information about what bullying is and how to help victims of bullying through my three-prong approach of The Three E’s. I believe we use empathy to understand our child’s experiences, empowerment to help guide them in formulating a plan of action, and engagement to make sure children can follow through on their plan of action in a supportive and helpful way. The Three E’s led me to write my book, The Empowered Child: How to Help Families, Cope, Communicate, and Conquer Bullying. The Empowered Child has allowed me to reach many people in our world with an approach to bullying that guides parents, educators, and mental health professionals on how to support our youth around the topic of bullying. I am now offering to train my program, The Empowerment Space, to mental health professionals who would like to learn skills to teach children how to cope and address bullying. Over the past four years, the work I have done has led me to pursue more advocacy work for bullying awareness, prevention, and recovery. I now want to impact bullying on a larger scale and work to consult and help lawmakers make changes in our bullying policies. I am grateful and excited by the many opportunities and experiences I have had with The Empowerment Space, and I look forward to what is coming next. The driving force behind my Empowerment Space program, presentations, book, and advocacy work is to make a difference in children’s lives.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would first be excited to just connect with a good friend. I would want to share some of my favorite places, such as Mantee Cafe in Studio City, which is a wonderful outdoor restaurant where you can sit under the stars and look up into the sky.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like dedicate my shout out to all my brave clients who have come forward to share their stories of bullying. Their bravery and resilience have taught me so much in my own work. I am grateful to all the clients who have allowed me into their world despite the pain they have had to endure.

Website: www.empowerment.space
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theempowermentspace/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-targan-matthew-b8b587a/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dmatthewempower
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheEmpowermentSpace
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYkWW9lgJd7R42igieXGsyA